UNIT 10 Lifestyle


Task 10: Read the following information about persuasive essays.


1. A persuasive essay is, in many ways, very similar to an argumentative essay (see Unit 8). The main difference is that the argument which you are making in a persuasive essay is even stronger than in an argumentative essay. In an argumentative essay, you evaluate the evidence in front of you and present your findings/opinions based on this. In a persuasive essay, the focus is more on a particular point of view that you want the reader to accept for which you find evidence and support to convince them that you are correct. The evidence you use should therefore not be subjective (i.e., do not use I or in my opinion, but according to X and as X argues.


2. In the introduction to a persuasive essay, it can help to write a very strong and clear thesis statement. In a persuasive essay, your argument is likely to be more ‘black and white’ than ‘shades of grey’, because you are really trying to persuade somebody about a particular viewpoint which you have. The use of a short but clear quotation, or some hard-hitting data, can help to achieve this.


3. When writing a persuasive essay, it can help to try and identify what the weakest point of your essay is. If you know the weakest point, you can try to fix this. Think: if somebody was trying to show that my argument was wrong, what would they say? How would they argue against me? You can then try to answer these questions in your essay. Another strategy for doing this is to ask a friend or classmate to read your essay and to identify what they think is the weakest point – because it can sometimes be very difficult to identify these problems by ourselves.


4. Writing which uses the same sentence type throughout can feel quite mechanical, and if your writing feels mechanical you are less likely to be able to persuade your reader. One strategy which you can follow is to use a variety of sentence types in your writing (see Unit 2). Doing this will help to keep the reader engaged.


5. When writing a persuasive essay, pay close attention to the language which you use. In general, you should try to ensure that your writing is not ‘boring’ or ‘uninteresting’ – if it is, then the reader may pay less attention to what you are saying, and therefore they are less likely to be persuaded about your argument. Some of the specific language choices and mechanisms that you can use are outlined in more detailed in Part 9.


Part 6: Checking your understanding


Ta sk 11: Think of something which you passionately believe in – the one thing you would like everybody else in the world to agree with you on. Write this down in the box below. I would like everyone to agree with me that


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